Monday 23 August 2021
Lockdowns in multiple states in July have impacted retail sales according to Mastercard SpendingPulse™, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment.
Retail sales across the country fell 5.6% in July compared to the previous month (seasonally adjusted) and are down 6.3% compared to the same time last year. However, when compared to July 2019 (the last non-pandemic year) sales are up 6%.
There were month on month falls in the retail categories of clothing (down 19.9%), department stores (down 5.4%) and food retailing (down 1.2%). Household goods increased 0.8% in July compared to the previous month (seasonally adjusted), however there were year on year falls across all retail categories.
Greater Sydney and surrounding areas were subject to stay-at-home orders in July, with Victoria, South Australia, parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory also going in and out of lockdown over the course of the month.
Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said lockdowns have a direct impact on retail sales and the pandemic pain will continue to be felt over the coming months.
"Delta is continuing to cause damage to businesses and livelihoods, in particular for our economic capital Sydney, where a nine-week lockdown is confirmed with no guarantee that restrictions will ease at the end of the month," Mr Zahra said.
"'For lease' signs are becoming a more common feature on CBD shop fronts in Sydney and Melbourne where the Delta devastation has been more severe and state and federal supports haven't been enough to save businesses from closing their doors permanently.
"Lockdowns have a direct impact on retail sales as well as business and consumer confidence, and those impacts can be felt long after restrictions are eased, as it takes time for confidence and foot-traffic to build up again - it's not an immediate snap back to the way things were.
"Many battle-weary businesses are on the brink of emotional and mental health collapse - not just financial difficulty. We need to be looking at ways we can reopen businesses where case numbers are low and vaccination rates are high as a pathway out of this situation.
"The insights also show that while consumer confidence has weakened as a result of lockdowns across various states, the 2-year growth mark ticked up. And in States/Territories such as Western Australia and the Northern Territory where lockdowns are less common, 2-year growth is up 16.2% and 8.9% respectively."
Mastercard SpendingPulse represents aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and cheque. This is indicative data, which represents a percentage rather than the entire Australian spending population.
Mastercard SpendingPulse July 2021
Mastercard SpendingPulse™ reports on national retail sales across all payment types in select markets around the world. The findings are based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and check. As such, SpendingPulse™ insights do not in any way contain, reflect or relate to actual Mastercard operational or financial performance, or specific payment-card-issuer data.
